The Little Voices Have Pretty Good Ideas
by Haurvatat
Summary: Axel sighed knowingly and looked up at his hair. “It would take too long to describe my head,” he said simply. It got the point across.
1. Suicide

Hello everyone! This is Brynna! This is my first time writing a KH fic, I think. I hope it doesn't suck. Angst isn't really my thing, but hey… inspiration is inspiration.

**This fic was written in honour of my wonderful dog Rosie. She died last Thursday night of heart failure. Rest in Peace, dearest.**

Disclaimer: Square Enix can kiss my shiny white girl arse, Roxas is MINE. Okay, just kidding. He's not, but I'd like him to be. Baklava, on the other hand, is totally mine, as is the original idea for whack-a-mole.

* * *

The day was bright. Way too bright. It didn't seem right to Roxas. The day wasn't supposed to be nice. It seemed wrong and disrespectful. To make up for the wrongness of the day, he stared at his feet and said nothing at all. His mother stood next to him, crying her eyes out, but quietly, not like she did at those retarded soap operas in Spanish she liked so much. He, his mother, and every single attendant to the funeral were wearing the darkest, drabbest garments they could've rustled up. It made it boring to look up. There wasn't any point to looking up. None at all.

Sora had died three days ago, so why was _Roxas _the one in hell?

Everyone had known it was coming, ever since the older of the twins had been diagnosed with cancer. Well, Roxas had known. It was one of those weird twin things, like when Sora knew that Roxas had broken three ribs and bruised two others in a car accident two years ago.

Everyone else had thought that Sora would be fine. After all, it was Sora. Sora had lived through some of the worst of the worst. It seemed stupid, which it was, that Sora would die of some retarded thing like cancer.

What really irked Roxas, though, was the fact that not one person had acted maturely about it but him. His mum had cried just like she was doing now. Thinking of her, his eyes flicked up at her. Her whole body was still quivering, her hands and knees too unsteady for someone as young as she, and her face puffy and red. Her cheeks, though, were completely dry. She had run out of tears to cry. Roxas hadn't. He only cried when he was alone, and that hadn't happened once since the news came from that pompous ass of a doctor at the hospital. So, yes, Roxas hadn't once yet cried for his dead twin. His favourite, and only brother.

There was Riku, across from Roxas. They hadn't been particularly good friends, but Roxas had always known how much Riku loved Sora. It was the only reason they tolerated each other. Roxas didn't really feel like yelling at Riku today, though. Falsely bonded by love that wasn't theirs, truly bonded by the source of that love. The irony wasn't lost on Roxas.

The last mound of dirt was shoveled over the grave, and that was the end of the matter. It had been decided that Roxas wasn't going back to school for another week or so, but he felt like he could've gone the next day.

Roxas led his mother to the car door. She tried to get out her keys, but her hands quivered too harshly to grasp them in the correct way. Her son shook his head and opened the door for her.

"Ma? Are you sure you're fine enough to drive home?"

"We'll find out, right?" she smiled weakly, trying her old sense of humour. She clambered in as Roxas got into the passenger's side.

"Oh, baby," she murmured. "How are you taking all of this?"

"I'm fine." Roxas said.

"Are you sure? Sure So-" she swallowed "- sure your brother was the more emotional of you two, but would it hurt you to try a tear or two? You don't have to be strong for anyone anymore."

Roxas said nothing at all. If only she knew how hard he had tried to cry. For Sora. For himself.

* * *

The first three days of no school passed ridiculously quickly for Roxas. They were boring, but he had plenty to do. He found the journal that Sora kept all of the usernames and passwords that Sora kept for various websites. He'd had to message every one of Sora's online friends that he was dead.

Roxas also had an odd way of dealing with grief. He cooked. Baked, broiled, braised, stir-fried, anything. There was enough homemade food in their refrigerator to feed a third-world country.

Unfortunately, that was how Roxas ran out of ingredients. Writing down the long list of things he needed, he started walking over to the nearest grocery store. He had his driver's permit, but he lived right across from the school and only about a block away from the grocery store, plus various take-out places and fast-food restaurants, so there wasn't much point to taking the car.

The December air was crisp and freezing, just like it should've been. The ground was cracked and dry, just like Roxas's lips. Licking them to keep them from bleeding, Roxas continued walking down the sidewalk.

Over the years, he had picked up a weird habit from Sora. For every crack or break in the pavement, he had to step over it with a particular foot. Left, left. Right, right. Left, left. It continued that way until he got to the store. Roxas had begun to use it solely as an excuse to keep looking at the ground.

So of course, he didn't notice the very tall man walking next to him.

The man had incredibly red hair that showed nothing but the snootiest of disdain for gravity, and every single other conceivable scientific law that had ever been thought up. He had checkered shoes and didn't wear socks. His pants were very baggy jeans, but they didn't reveal his underwear to the world, like so many young men his age had taken to doing. Sorry, but if you want the world to know that you wear Bob the Builder boxers, or worse, thongs, just write it on the bathroom walls. Girl's bathroom, preferably.

Three fastest methods of communication:

Telephone

Telegraph

Tell-a-girl.

The man was looking at Roxas's feet, just like Roxas. Noticing the strange pattern of his footsteps, the man attempted to catch whatever rhythm there might've been. He eventually figured it out and was stepping in time to Roxas's irregular feet.

The man was totally new to this kind of walking, so he didn't remember to watch where he was going. He slammed into a pillar supporting the overhang at the Food Lion. He landed viciously, groaning and rubbing his head and rear simultaneously.

"Hey, you okay?" He opened his green eyes to look into half-closed blue ones. He jumped slightly, but not enough for anyone to really notice. "Any particular reason for running into large, stone pillars, or was it a bet?"

"Hey, hey, don't hate. I was just wondering why you walked all weird, not that somebody like me's really one to talk." He chuckled and tugged a fire-red lock for emphasis. Roxas's expression changed from one of sarcastic puzzlement to amusement and surprise.

"No one ever notices that I walk weird. Lemme guess, you were trying to walk along, got caught up, and weren't looking where you going."

"Spot on. Say, what's your name, kid?" the man asked.

"Roxas. Yours?"

"Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel smiled. It was more of a smirk, but it had a warmth to it that seemed more worthy of the term 'smile'.

"Maybe," Roxas admitted. "Depends on whether I see you around again."

"Hey, y'never know, right? It's a small world."

Roxas smiled back and waved as Axel walked away, shaking his head. He seemed like a nice enough person, weird name, weird hair, weird clothing, and all. The smile faded and Roxas turned to push the door open. He paused.

_Wait…there's nothing out here, or between my house and here. So… why was he following me?_

* * *

Tomorrow was school. Gross. At least Roxas had a new reason to look depressed. His mum had tried to kick him out of the house more and more, yelling that he couldn't waste the rest of his life curled up in his room with some books and chocolate milk, to which he would respond with accusations of hypocrisy. After all, Mum _was _the one who curled up in _her _room with a glass of water and a large tub of frosting. Nothing else, just frosting. The frosting never would return from the black hole that was his mother's abode.

This particular time, though, she had succeeded. He was out of the house, just like she wanted. Roxas sat in the local Starbucks, drinking nothing despite the fact that all five of his closest friends were practically already hyper. They couldn't have gotten more energetic if someone had slipped them crack. Thinking on that, Roxas took Hayner's almost empty cappuccino mug and sniffed deeply. He didn't know whether or not crack had a scent, but it couldn't hurt much to check. At least Namine was acting slightly sane. And Olette. Hayner, Pence, and Kairi were different. Kairi had already broken three mugs that everyone else had already sworn they weren't paying for.

"And then, and then… I f'got what happened then! So, like, I ate ALL of the bread in the WHOOOOOLE house, and, and, like, did you know that half of all bread eaters score below average on the SOLs? Hah, get it? Half of all are below average anyway! Haha! My geometry teach actually _bought_ it for a minute! The look on her face when I told her!! Oh, yeah," Hayner interrupted himself and slid back into his chair from the strange chair-related dance he'd been doing. Some of the gay people had been looking at Hayner's behind most interestedly and were a little sad to see him finally sit down.

"Rox, I need you to come with me to the bakery. Since I ate all the bread in the house, my Mom is forcing me to go out and buy more."

"Why isn't that phrased like a question?" Roxas asked.

"Cause. Just come with, Rox," said Hayner. Roxas didn't miss the bit of worry that showed in Hayner's eyes and voice. His eyes swept over his other friends. Very few met them. Those that did were either heavily caffeine-intoxicated or not good at all at hiding their feelings, anyway.

"Does _everybody _want me to go?"

Half of them flinched. Kairi broke her fourth mug whilst twitching violently. Namine took his hand in her own and looked him square in the eye.

"Roxas, you… haven't been yourself. Not really. You haven't smiled or laughed since… well, we all just think you ought to get out more than you do. There's no one sitting here or anywhere who would blame you for it." Namine was on the verge on tears. That only pissed Roxas off even more. But he wasn't mad at Namine. No way. They were best friends. He was angry with himself that people existed in the world that could cry for a person who was still alive when he couldn't even cry for a _dead_ person.

"I never said I wasn't gonna go, Nam. Jeez," he said. "So don't cry, 'kay?"

Namine blushed slightly and touched the base of her eyes, wiping away any trace of tears. "Got it."

"ON TO THE BAKERY, THEN!!!!" shouted Hayner. Kairi broke her fifth mug. You'd think that they would stop giving her replacement mugs. Hayner grabbed Roxas by the arm and bodily dragged him from the Starbucks. Everyone else left for home, considering they didn't want to have to pay for whatever other damage Kairi might inflict upon the little coffee shop.

* * *

The bell jingled at the door of the Twilight Town Bakery. The girl that usually worked the counter blushed slightly at the two absolutely _gorgeous_ guys coming in. Okay, only one of them was particularly drool-worthy, but the other guy still wasn't bad at all to look at. If only his hair didn't look like it was actually just a mass of vertical squigglez. With a z. Yuffie crushed her instantaneous crush and tried to be all professional, as was her forte.

"What would you like today, sirs?"

"We need…" Squigglez stopped himself short, a confused expression blooming on his face. "Uh, Roxas? What do we need again?"

Roxas looked exasperated. "_You _need two baguettes and two loaves of whole grain bread. _We _need nothing. I didn't have a choice in coming, remember?"

"Right, right. I just don't see why Mom makes me get _whole grain _bread. It feels like they put little seeds in the bread that are actually little pods containing hemlock, or anthrax, or aconite-"

"We don't need your flawed poison knowledge, Hayner."

"Oooh, doughnuts!"

"And this is why I'm the one allowed to carry the money," Roxas said. "I'm sorry. Did you need me to repeat the order?"

"No! I got it. Two baguettes and two whole grain loaves, right? I'll get my lackey on it." Yuffie winked and whisked away behind the massive wall that hid away two-thirds of the kitchen. She came back in less than 30 seconds with the baguettes. "Sorry, guys. We sold the last W.G. loaf to some guy a couple of customers back. We put some loaves in the oven, but… y'know. It takes time. Lackey only works so fast."

As Yuffie vanished back into the kitchen to help Lackey, whoever that was, Roxas and Hayner looked for a place to sit down. There wasn't one.

"YOU IDIOT!!! GET – JUST GET _OUT!!!_" Yuffie's voice shrieked like the cruelty and evilness of the world had melted together into the voice of the Devil.

"Poor Lackey," said Hayner.

Said Lackey stumbled out of the kitchen at knifepoint. Roxas jumped at the sight of who it was.

"Axel!" Roxas gasped. He didn't like his stomach felt weird at the sight of the redhead. Not that his hair was particularly red anymore. Some flour had gotten in certain spikes, making them more pink than red.

"Roxas! Heeey, you got my name memorized!" Axel grinned maniacally.

"Well, yeah… you told me to." Roxas blushed without realising it.

"So if I asked you really nicely to protect me from Mistress Hellfire in there, would you-" Axel began.

"Not on your life," Roxas said. "Literally."

"Damn," Axel said.

"Alright, I fixed your stupid mistake, you can come in and _maybe _I won't disembowel your sorry-" Yuffie burst in from behind the wall, then looked surprised rather than wrathful. "-Oh, hey! So you Squigglez and Swirly-hair are Lackey's friends, huh? That's nice. That means they can come back here, long as they don't screw around with what's back here." She shot Axel a pointed glare. He flinched as though physically struck.

"Cool. And by the way, my name's Roxas, not Swirly-hair." Roxas walked past the little wall, followed closely by Axel.

Hayner grabbed the back of Axel's clothing, keeping him from proceeding just yet.

"Hey, man. Just listen. You break his heart and you'll have a cute new little nickname: Peg."

Axel ruffled Hayner's hair and smirked. "Dag, Squigglez, ask Roxy to share his Prozac once in a while."

Hayner glared and went on ahead.

"Lackey? Could you start up the other ovens for me?" Yuffie asked from the kitchens.

Axel chuckled darkly to himself as he headed to the other ovens towards the back of the kitchen. "She has no idea what she's-"

"LACKEY! ASS! YOURS! HERE! NOW!"

"Aww…"

"No. I remembered the _last _time." Yuffie looked at Roxas, an eyebrow raised critically. "You, Swirly-hair, you start up the ovens." She turned back to Axel, shooting him another poisonous look. "He's not like _you_, is he?"

Axel shook his head slowly and mouthed the word 'no' emphatically.

"Good. GO GO, GADGET SWIRLY!"

"My name isn't-"

"That's nice, Swirly." She snapped her fingers and pointed expectantly at the ovens.

He sighed and trudged over to the ovens. He did a double take and backed up to look at the ovens closer to the front of the store.

"Hey, Axel… these aren't on. Why can't we use these?"

"Actually, they _are _on," Axel said.

"But they're not plugged in…"

"Nope."

"Then how would they be-" The oven door was opened and heat burst out, fires roaring hungrily in the bowels of the metal monster. "Oh."

Axel grinned. "I like my old-fashioned styles, thank you. More risk of death, you see."

"Oh," Roxas said again weakly. "Splendid."

* * *

Roxas shut the door behind him as he walked into his house. The place smelled like jasmine, and always had, for reasons no one knew. There weren't any jasmine plants anywhere nearby, nor was there anything jasmine-scented. It was just another unexplainable thing about Twilight Town. There were quite a few such mysteries. Roxas kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen. He had ended up getting bread for free, considering that he had worked it off while he was there. He hadn't even _wanted_ bread, but no sane person turned down something they had worked for.

Instead of the mysteries of Yuffie's generous spirit and the smell of jasmine, Roxas's thoughts were all gravitating towards Axel. He had bumped into the strange man twice in less than a week, but had never once seen him around town before. _And he notices things about me, like my walking style, _he thought. _Is that good or bad?_

His mum chose that particular time to walk into the kitchen where Roxas was standing with a vacant expression on his face.

"Back in this hellhole, huh?" she asked.

Roxas jumped. He hadn't noticed her at all. "Maybe."

His mum sighed. "Hon, I think you need a permanent excuse to get out of here. I think you should get a job."

Roxas stared like she had grown two heads. "A… _job_?"

"Exactly. Earn a little extra money… and Roxas?" She leaned close to him and whispered; "Your brother was considering getting a job before we had to cart him off to the hospital every other day. He wanted to get into whatever college you were going to and decided that the only way I could afford it all would be if he worked part of it off."

_That's playing dirty…_Roxas thought. But his mind had already been working on something. Something that would appease his mother, his friends, and most of all, himself, if only a little.

* * *

"A job?" Yuffie asked in surprise.

"A _job_?" yelped Axel outside the office door, clearly eavesdropping.

"Yes. I need a job, and this place seems as good a place as any to work."

"Well… I could do with a lackey that doesn't light things on fire on a regular basis… I'll need to talk with the owner of this place before I give you anything solid. 'Course, Aerith's the most laid-back person I know. She'll prolly say yes if I ask. Get an apron on and I'll get Lackey to show you 'round. Lackey?"

The muffled thunk of Axel trying to not be caught eavesdropping was ruined by his response. "Yes'm?"

"Show Swirly-lackey around, won'tcha?"

"'Kay!" Axel said.

Roxas was pushed out of the cramped office and into Axel's chest. "Ah, um… sorry."

"S'alright. Hey, Yuffie seems to like you fine enough. She doesn't take to many people, you know."

"I might've noticed," Roxas admitted. "Hey, there's something I've been trying to remember to ask you. Why does she call everyone but you by a description of their hair style? What makes you an exception?"

Axel sighed knowingly and looked up at his hair. "It would take too long to describe my head," he said simply. It got the point across.

* * *

Roxas had been working at the bakery for a while. He had counted the days as however many school days he had had plus two. So he had worked there for… fifteen days. In that time, he had learned almost everything that there was to learn about the business. But it was always interesting to work with Axel and Yuffie. Despite daily death threats and brandishing of knives, the two worked well together. Both seemed to really like Roxas, especially Axel.

"So… Roxy, how old are you?" Axel asked, getting out the stuff he needed for doughnut dough.

"16."

"_That_ young?" Axel asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well, yeah. I'm a junior. How old are _you?_"

Axel grinned the reckless smile that he usually wore when something was about to or was in the process of combusting. "See, now, that's a hard one. I'm actually a test tube baby, so-" Roxas punched his arm.

"For real," Roxas said, not quite realising that he was wearing an identical smile.

"Oooh! I got Roxy to smile!" Axel yipped in glee. Roxas's smile vanished. "But anyway, I'm actually 18."

"Only two years more than me?"

"Yep. I'm a _freshman_." He said proudly. "In _college_."

"That's nice," said Roxas, turning back to the ovens, shoving the loaves in with a strange expression.

"But still, I can't believe you're a _minor_… I'm getting all depressed." Axel sighed as dramatically as he could.

"Why?"

"Oh, because it means that my Roxas isn't legal. Only two years to go! I shall have to merely – carry on. I shall do my best!" Axel pressed a hand to his heart and whipped the other around in the air, as if beseeching God. Flour floated to the tiled floors.

Roxas shut the oven doors and shook his head at the thought that he had actually _chosen_ to work with people like this.

"But seriously, Rox, you smiled. You haven't smiled once since you got here. Gotten my jokes and played along, sure, but no smiling. No laughing. You an emo or something?" Axel backed up a little, as if trying to ward off the awful emo disease.

"No..."

"Then why?"

"I just… don't wanna say," Roxas said. What Axel was saying sounded a little too similar to what his friends had been telling him since Sora's death.

"Secrets aren't good for the soul. You have to talk about stuff that makes you feel angry or sad, just to bleed off the poison of the memory. People try to keep stuff that makes an impression on them in their heads. They try to keep it all inside and constantly remind themselves of it so they don't forget it. But that just keeps them from seeing everything else. Sounds corny, but it's totally true. If it's a sad memory, people feel guilty for laughing or having fun. If it's an angry one, people feel the need to take it all out on something. To scream and shout and throw stuff that they're probably going to regret breaking later. Secrets suck," Axel said, still kneading the dough.

Roxas stared at him. Both things sounded like… well, exactly like what Roxas was going through right now. Did Axel see into people's heads or something? Or had he just been in a similar position once? If so, Roxas pitied him, and was glad that there was something who might really _get_ the inside of his head.

"Actually- "

The phone rang at the most inopportune time.

"Aww, crap. Hey, Rox, can you knead this for me? I gotta get that."

Roxas swallowed and nodded, taking charge of the dough. Well, maybe the heavens didn't want him to tell Axel anything just yet. If that phone call wasn't a divine intervention, Roxas didn't know what was.

Apparently, the phone call had been a wrong number or something, because Axel came back ridiculously quickly, muttering darkly about something or other. He saw what Roxas was doing and gasped.

"Roxy! Doughnut dough is different from regular dough! You're doing it _all wrong._"

"Jesus, Lord forgive me," Roxas said sarcastically. "Care to show me the correct way, oh exalted one?"

"Gladly," Axel said.

"Okay. First, we need to activate the yeast." Axel's arms wrapped around Roxas's waist and his large hands covered the younger boy's smaller ones. Roxas blushed insanely without realising it, again. How was it that bread-baking terms could sound like sexual innuendo? "Alright… the first rise… then the second rise will come…" Okay, Roxas was_ definitely _not imagining the innuendo speech. Who knew that bread could ever be inappropriate? Axel moved a little closer to Roxas in order to control more of his hands's movements. His hips gently brushed the back of Roxas's-

-insert gratuitous smut scene here XD-

* * *

Axel woke up, blearily blinking his bright green eyes. It was much too bright out. Disgusting. But wait… what was _that_? Axel tried to pry himself up from the floor and rub his eyes into focus all at once, which just resulted in a new meeting between Axel's face and the floor.

"Hello, floor…" he muttered, not really keeping track of what he was saying.

"Morning, Axel."

That woke Axel up. Roxas. What exactly happened last night? That was the only thing Axel couldn't remember well. Or at all, really. "Morning, Roxy."

"I was being sarcastic. It's not morning. Jeez, d'you know what Yuffie'll do to you if she finds you out cold in here?" Roxas said.

It was then that Axel's vision shot into focus. What he saw frightened him beyond all recognition.

"R-Roxy?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a ghost! You're all white! What happened? How did you die? I WON'T FORGET YOU ROXYYYYYYY!!!!" Axel moaned and cried like a three-year-old as Roxas looked at him in annoyance. Sure, he was covered in flour that had, _ahem_, 'fallen' from one of the shelves, but this was just stupid. Even for Axel, and that was saying something.

"Axel," Roxas said through Axel's wails, "I will cut you in your sleep."

"Oh noes! A _vengeful_ ghost!" cried Axel.

* * *

-_Earlier_-

Neither one had seen the frying pan coming. Axel didn't even know that the bakery _had _a frying pan on its shelves. But somehow or another, gravity finally worked its cruel, cruel magic on it, sending it hurtling down through the bakery air at such a speed and weight that it could've gone through a normal person's skull like it was wet toilet paper. Fortunately, it met up with Axel's head first, and not even the Frying Pan of Doom could stand up to Axel's Hair. Regardless, Axel had somehow ended up on the bakery floor, twitching, but otherwise completely unconscious. Roxas had checked for vital signs, confirmed the Axel was alive, and then resumed his business. For a white bread loaf, he had needed more flour to dust the counters with. Most people didn't know it, but dough was disgustingly sticky. Flour kept it from sticking to absolutely _everything_.

Unfortunately, the flour was also on the top shelf of all of the shelves that were in the bakery. Roxas hated the little things like that in life that rubbed his height in his face. Life mocked him on a daily basis. There was no question of waking Axel up to get it for him; Roxas had his pride yet. But still, he shouldn't have tried to get to it as he was. The flour had come tumbling down, coating Roxas in pure white granules. He had sneezed for a good five minutes, at least, at which time Axel had chosen to wake up.

_-current time-_

* * *

Axel could barely stop laughing. "Haha! So you're a midget, not a ghost, right?"

Roxas hit Axel over the head with Yuffie's Lackey-punishing stick.

"Haha, you hit like such a wuss, compared to Mistress Hellfire," Axel said.

"I wasn't asking you, now was I?" Roxas said.

"Nah, but I thought to dignify you with an answer anyway!" Roxas hit Axel again.

"Hey, Rox?" Axel said. Roxas stopped for a second, confused at the thoughtful expression on his coworker's face. "Would you come with me to the movies Friday night if I asked you?"

"What, like a date? I don't swing that way, y'know…"

"I said, 'if'. It's hypothetical," Axel said. "Would you?"

"I guess." Roxas shrugged, trying to fight a blush, along with an anxious tone. "I might, but as long as it was an 'as friends' thing."

"So, you consider us friends?" Axel said.

"I guess," Roxas repeated. "I mean, you seem like a pretty cool pers-" He was cut off by the large redhead glomping him at full speed. Flour that hadn't been washed off yet and probably wouldn't be until he got home flew in the air for the second – or was it the third? – time that day.

"Yaaay! Roxy loves me!" Axel squealed.

"Oi, oi, I didn't say that!" Roxas didn't even bother trying to hide the blush this time. Close proximity seemed to ruin everything, astoundingly.

"So, I'm asking you for real, now. Will you come with me to the movies on Friday?" Axel sat up, looking like a puppy expecting a biscuit.

"As friends, right?"

"Aahh… sure, whatever floats your boat."

"What would we see?" Roxas asked.

"Whatever's playing when we show up that you can legally get into, Roxy!" Axel said.

"Simple, yet effective." Roxas smiled for the second time that day. "Okay, I concede."

Axel jumped for joy before Yuffie came in and smacked the both of them for ignoring all and any orders that had come in the last half-hour or so.

* * *

Roxas was lying down in his bed, his hair and face now completely devoid of flour. His mother had seen to that. She had also stolen the rest of his clothes for washing before he had secured replacements for them. She wasn't a particularly practical woman, just a neat freak. But his mother's OCD wasn't on Roxas's mind. He had… smiled today. He'd been having _fun_. It seemed wrong. He was feeling so guilty. His twin, the one who had loved him more than anyone else, who had understood him better than anyone lese, was in the ground, and Roxas was off somewhere else having fun. Telling himself that it was what Sora would've wanted did no good. It didn't lessen the guilt. It was the most horrible feeling, ice-cold and slimy, wrapping around his gut, slowly working its way up to his jugular. It was gross and nasty. _Just like me_, Roxas thought miserably. He shuddered visibly. He was no longer sure if he really wanted to go somewhere with Axel, much as he liked him. He didn't want to do much of anything, but he couldn't find it in himself to tell Axel 'no' after he had already said 'yes'. It would only have made Roxas feel worse. _Sora, you're an idiot. Please, come back and just tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do to make you and everybody else happy. You could always do it, why can't I? _

"Roxas?" That was his mum's voice outside his door.

"Mmm?" he grunted.

"There's tomato soup on the stove. It's really hot right now, so it might be best if you waited." Roxas didn't answer. His mum took that as a cue to come in his room. "Honey, you know, when I named you, it was in our home language. Your full name was Rokusassu Riarumoto. The system changed your name a little when we immigrated here. Baby, I know it's hard, but you can't try to act like anyone else, especially your brother. He was himself. Try being who you really are for once and stop trying to do all the things that… that Sora could do."

That shook Roxas a little. It was the first time his mum had spoken Sora's name since the funeral. But he didn't let that show. "Why? What would it matter? Our last name means 'originating from something real', not 'something real'. I'm not going to end up being anything but a copy, anyway."

"Roxas, sweetie…"

"Yeah. You use all those stupid names like Honey and Sweetie and Baby because you got used to it. You used to use it because you thought you were going to call me 'Sora'. You always called _him_ by his given name. He stood out more than I did, and still does."

His mother was silent for the longest time, but she didn't leave. "Roxas…" she sighed. "How long has this been bothering you?"

He didn't want to answer. It made the cold, slimy thing in his stomach hate him even more. He just couldn't talk to her, or anyone for that matter.

When she finally left, Roxas curled up and pressed his forehead to the wall. It was cold enough to remind him of the Ice Feeling. It was enough to make him cry.

* * *

"Roxas? You look down today. And here I thought you were healing," sighed Namine. She had volunteered to talk to Roxas over AIM. None of the others were sensitive, or even subtle enough, to get answers out of him.

"Do I? Not my fault," he muttered.

Namine looked sadly at him. "Your mom told me you got a job at a bakery somewhere. Do you have work today?"

"No…"

"But can you take me to see where you work anyway?"

"Why? You could go any old time. It doesn't matter if I take you or not," Roxas said.

"I guess… it's because I like being around you. It's fun. That enough reason for you?" Namine tried to look him in the eye, but it was he who looked away.

"Fine," Roxas said.

The two walked in silence for a while. Even if it hadn't been phrased that way in the original question, Namine was the one leading Roxas to the bakery. There was only one in Twilight Town, so there wasn't much chance of mistaking one for another. The bell jingled as Namine threw it open.

Yuffie's head shot up, assuming that there was a customer. Her face contorted into something that Roxas would label as a crap-I-lost-a-customer-possibility-but-at-least-it's-not-someone-I-hate face. "Hey, Roxas? What're you doing here? You didn't have to come in today."

"I know. My friend wanted to see the place, so…" Yuffie quickly grew a smile and made a small sound like a whip cracking, hand gesticulation and all. Roxas gave her a nasty glare.

"This place is so warm! I can take off my coat and still be fine!" Namine said.

"Yeah. That would be because of the ovens," Roxas said.

"Cool! Can I see those?" Namine asked.

Roxas turned a worried face to Yuffie. "It depends. Is Axel back there blowing things up again?"

She shook her head. "He's back there, but there isn't much blowing up happening."

"Yet," Roxas noted. Yuffie snorted.

"Who's Axel?" Namine asked.

"Oh, that's right. He's the guy who works back there with the ovens and stuff with me while Yuffie's up here taking orders and stu-"

"He's my Lackey. 'Nuff said."

Roxas shook his head. Axel took that moment to burst out from the kitchen, hands covered in flour.

"Is that Roxas's melodic voice I do hear?"

"Oh, it could be," said Yuffie. "Swirly and Friend."

"Friend?" Axel stopped short, paling a little.

"Yeah. Axel, this is Namine, Namine this is-" Namine was a little busy staring slack-jawed at the sheer _volume_ of hair Axel had "-well, this is Axel."

"Umm, nice to meet you?" Axel gave a nervous laugh but offered her a hand for shaking. He somewhere along the line realized that his hand was coated in flour and tried to wipe it on his apron. "A girlfriend, Roxy?"

Roxas was a little shocked. "No! She's my _best_ friend, not my _girl_friend. It'd be like dating your sister!"

"Eew, incest," Namine said absently.

"Oh! Then this is okay." Axel leaned over and kissed Roxas on the cheek. Roxas, figuring it was just a joke, returned the favour.

Both girls stared at them.

"R-roxas? I- I didn't know that you..." Namine squeaked.

"Swirly is about as straight as his hair!" crowed Yuffie.

"Hey, hey! It's not like – Jesus! Just… Axel, help, _please_?"

Unfortunately, Axel was staring slack-jawed at him, too. A grin slowly grew on his face. Roxas had the unfortunate feeling that a pack of hyenas were closing in, their eyes on his internal organs.

"Leave my organs alone!" he cried, making his fingers into a cross to ward off evil. "And I'm not _that_ way! It's just a friendly thing!"

"Ooh, friends _with benefits_!" Yuffie said seductively. Her face reminded Roxas of a lecherous monkey with a slight overbite, not that he had ever seen one, or ever wanted to, for that matter.

Roxas fled from the bakery, either assuming that Namine could find her own way home or forgetting about her entirely.

* * *

"Why the hell did I do that? Why did everyone automatically assume that I was gay or bi after _one little peck on the cheek_?" Roxas muttered. "And for _Axel_, of all the pyromaniac psychos…" _Oh, I dunno, maybe 'cause you ARE?_ Said his inner person, whom he had dubbed Joebob von Scknicklehiemert.

_Oh, shut up. I wasn't talking to you in the first place, _thought Roxas.

_Meaning that I'm dead on target and you just don't wanna hear it. Yare, yare, someone is in de-ni-aaaaaaal…_Joebob said.

_Not true!_

_You LIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!_

_Not to myself!!_

_That's what denial _IS _you 'tard!_

_I'm not a-_

_And what's wrong with being gay or bi?_

_I dunno… it's not what my friends expect of me?_

_Would they drop you if you were one?_

_No…_

_Then it's safe. There's nothing hypothetical about anything anymore,_ Joebob said triumphantly. _And by the way, Mum's coming._

"Huh?" Roxas jerked up from his bed just in time to meet his mum as she came through the door.

"How did you know I was coming?" she asked, amused. "I pride myself on being so quiet, no one could hear me coming! Except Sora, of course." Her face tightened a little, but she kept going. "Anyway, Roxas, I'm making New York-style Chow Mein. If you wanted any, you'll have to get downstairs before I put it in the fridge. 'Kay?"

"G-got it." Roxas's eyes were wide. If his mum noticed, she said nothing.

"My God…" whispered Roxas. Roxas never _had _been able to tell when she was coming. Sora always knew. Joebob had only showed up in Roxas's mind after Sora died. Joebob knew. Could it be, just maybe… that Joebob wasn't Joebob, but actually…

Roxas shook his head free of such thoughts. There wasn't a way in hell. Literally. But tomorrow was his 'date' with Axel. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask the little voice in his head what he should do.

* * *

It was 5 pm at the movie theatre. Axel had been there for maybe 10 minutes, tops, when Roxas arrived.

"Punctual," Axel said, leaning down to Roxas's ear. The soft breath on his ear sent shivers down his spine.

"I take pride in that," Roxas said.

"Nice. Hey, the only thing playing right now kind of sucks. Wanna see the movie? And not _watch_ the movie?" Axel's almost non-existent eyebrows went up and down suggestively.

"Haha, brill."

"Ah, you mock my feelings."

"Nothing personal," said Roxas.

"Oh, it never is." Roxas half-wondered if axel was being sarcastic

Axel hadn't been kidding when he had said that what was playing sucked. It really _was_ the most disgusting movie that Roxas had ever seen: Dora the Explorer: the Movie. Looking back, Roxas thought that it was no wonder that the ticket-seller up front gave them a weird look. The man deserved mad props for not laughing at them outright. Still, it made a good story to tell afterward.

"So, what now?" Axel asked.

"I haven't the slightest, unless you want to… nah, never mind."

"What, what? You can't tease me like that and tell me nothing, Roxy," he scolded.

"Haha, fine. I was thinking…"

"A dangerous pastime-"

"-I know," finished Roxas. Both burst out laughing. Dora the Explorer and quoting Beauty and the Beast. What had they stooped to? "But, as I _was_ saying, I was thinking that maybe we could go up to the Clock Tower. It's the best view in Twilight Town, as long as you're not afraid of heights. I used to go there all the time when I was a kid."

Axel grinned. "hate to break it to you, but you're still a kid, squirt."

"Then what does that make you?"

"A _manly_ squirt!"

* * *

The Clock Tower was dustier than Roxas remembered it. He supposed that that was because neither he nor his friends had made a habit out of coming there much anymore. But the view was three times as wonderful as he remembered it. Twilight was setting in, bathing every roof in the golden and reddish light that was the town's namesake.

"Woah," breathed Axel. "I always thought that this place was forbidden to the public. Y'know, falling-to-your-death risk and all. I can't believe I never came up here before. I can't believe I missed this."

"I know. Every time I come, Twilight seems just a little better than when I was here last."

"The only thing that would make this better would be ice cream."

"Too true." Roxas sat down next to Axel. "Actually, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Hmm? What?"

Roxas reached an arm up around Axel's head and stroked his hair. "How earth did you get your hair that colo-" He didn't finish.

Axel had pressed his lips to Roxas's own. In shock of the ripple that went up and down his spine, Roxas opened his mouth a little. Axel took the opportunity to worm his tongue into the blonde's mouth, flicking the roof in just such a way that Roxas squeaked a little. Roxas started trying to kiss back, but Axel had so much force in his kiss that any returned kiss would be nothing in comparison.

If anyone had thought to ask, that was when the ice had settled in.

Roxas stiffened a little.

_You're enjoying yourself! While your brother's dead! You bastard. Push him off. You're not going to? Whore. Do it. It's the only way to redeem yourself. You're supposed to be in mourning, and you're making out with some guy on a clock tower. Thinking that you'll push him away and then tell him why? Why do you need to tell him anything? Otherwise he'll just try again. He'll think that you're still a whore, just a whore with a conscience. Tell him nothing. Or maybe you just want a pity-party? Is that it? You want him to feel sorry for you, and then kiss you more. Maybe something a bit more M-rated? Ah, we've hit gold. I thought you were better than that. PUSH HIM AWAY._

Roxas pushed Axel off of him, crying a little in shame. The voice wasn't Joebob or Sora or anyone at all that he could recognize. It was that little doubtful, pessimistic side that everyone has. And it was trying to murder him from the inside out.

"Roxas?"

"Let GO! Just… please, don't touch me!" Roxas begged almost hysterically.

"What? What's wrong?" Axel looked bewildered and a little afraid. "Homophobe?"

"NO! No, I like… I just… please, leave me alone!" Roxas couldn't hold himself up. His knees buckled and-

-and Roxas fell from the Clock Tower.

* * *

"ROXAS!" Axel shouted, the fear draining all the blood from his face and the colour from his eyes. He tried to grab Roxas's arm as he fell, but missed by half an inch.

Axel didn't believe in guardian angels, or even angels in general, but that belief was reversed in an instant as he saw something incredible.

A pale arm reached out of nothing at all and grabbed Roxas's wrist and halted his fall abruptly. Though the arm remained transparent, the rest of Roxas's saviour materialized. It was another child, about Roxas's age, with large, spiky brown hair.

Axel ran like hell to the lower level of the tower where the angel was setting Roxas down carefully. As he approached them, his eyes widened. The boy had the exact same eyes, no, the entire face, as Roxas.

"The hell?" whispered Axel.

'Heh, sorry about this. I wasn't supposed to come back for a while now,' he said.

"Who are you?"

'I'm Sora, Roxas's twin. Yeah...I'm kinda dead.'

It was a bit much for poor Axel's mind to wrap around. At least Roxas was unconscious from shock.

"So… you're an angel or something?" he asked.

'Not exactly. I can't go to heaven or hell or whatever afterlife there is until my purpose is filled here.' He smiled gently. It had the same heart-wrenching happiness and sadness in one that Roxas used to wear.

"What _is _that purpose?"

'Protecting them. _All _of them. My friends, my family, Riku. Because I love them, I'll stay here until they really don't need me anymore.' Sora brushed Roxas's hair with his fingers, still smiling softly.

"Should I tell him all of this when he wakes up?" Axel asked.

"Probably not." Axel and Sora both jerked their heads up to see who had spoken.

'Riku!'

"Hey. I know you told me not to come, Sora, but I couldn't help myself. I need to be where you are, baby." Sora blushed, hard though it was to tell. "Still, you shouldn't tell Roxas anything. Let him deal with grief in his own way." He shot Sora a look. "Going inside of his head during a mental breakdown slash questioning of his sexuality was _supposed_ to be forbidden."

'Whoops,' Sora said.

"We should probably leave before Sleeping Beauty over here wakes up. What's your name again?"

"Axel. Yours?"

"Riku."

"Let's keep in touch, 'kay?"

"Will do. See ya." Both visitors left in their own fashions; one by fading, the other by simply walking off.

"That was seriously weird," Axel muttered.

"Hn?" Roxas groaned a little. He was probably waking up. Axel sighed wearily. Now he would have to think up a plausible cover story.

This could get interesting.

Fin.

* * *

Review, plzkthxbye.

Yeah.

Now.


	2. Homicide

Hello, again! This fic was originally supposed to be just a oneshot, but then… /sigh/ I had aspirations. There were enough people that wanted me to continue this that I decided to go with their wishes. I live to please, what can I say? And, since this is the case, if you read this and like it, GO REVIEW.

Oh yeah. These ('…') mean that a spirit is talking, unlike these ("…"), which mean that someone alive is talking. Juts thought you ought to know.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned all of the characters in this fic, there would be no such word as 'heterosexual'. Damn skippy. Sadly, this is simply not the case.

(Brynna, if there were no heterosexuality, there would be no human race and no boys to make fabulously gay. I know, terribly disappointing)

* * *

Chapter 2 :

Homicide

Riku had checked his e-mail five times in the last ten minutes. He didn't know what he was waiting for, but on the fifth try he'd actually gotten it. An e-mail from the mysterious Axel. Riku had gotten Axel's e-mail and had been waiting for a reply for a while. Two weeks, at least, in fact. Sora's pale form drifted around Riku's shoulders in an almost catlike way.

Sora had been dead for about five weeks now or so. So why was he there now, looking through Riku's e-mail? That was simple enough to explain, but flashbacks were funnier.

/Flashback/

_Riku sat down dejectedly on his bed. He lay down, staring blankly at the ceiling. Tears had come so readily when he'd first heard about Sora. Now, it was like they weren't going to come just to spite him. It made him irritated and guilty all at once. But Gods above, why did Sora of all people have to leave him like this? They had both had known that Sora had cancer. They both had kissed their goodbyes when Sora went in for chemo. When everyone had thought it had worked just fine, he'd danced with him all around the hospital, not particularly caring if anyone had seen them or thought they were complete and total retards. They were, so it hadn't mattered much in the first place._

_He had _loved_ Sora. Loved the kid to within an inch of his life. Literally. And now he had nowhere to put that love, nor the grief that came with the package. He was pretty much all alone. His mum worked as a reporter, so she darted around the world and rarely came home. His father had been a drunk and abusive person, so Riku's mum had gotten a restraining order. Riku was glad for that particular part, but not for the loneliness that made him into the angsty, emo stereotype that everyone had taken him for in the beginning._

_Riku pushed his silver bangs out of his eyes out of habit. He had the brightest, most insane shade of aquamarine. But Sora's? They had been totally pure, untainted blue. The most beautiful eyes a human being could hope to see._

"_Sora…" Riku muttered to himself._

'_What?'_

_Riku practically jumped out of his skin at the familiar voice. "THE HELL??"_

'_Not quite. Back up one step and you've got it!'_

"_I imagined that," he stated as if someone could hear him and use that statement to successfully determine Riku's mental state. Riiiiiiiight._

'_Yeeeeeees, Rikuuuuu, this is aaaaall in your heeeeeaaaaaad…' Sora's voice said in a manner that was half-mocking, half-joking-around. 'Heh, always wanted to do that.' Now that Riku concentrated on the voice, it sort of echoed and seemed a little garbled, as if the voice really _were_ imagined._

"_So…Sora?" Riku didn't know if he dared hope._

'_Dingdingdingding! We have a winner!'_

"_Is it… really you?"_

'_It really is.'_

"_How?" It was all Riku had to ask. He sat up and stared right into the slightly paler form of the striking blue eyes that he had just been remembering. As a matter of fact, he could see straight through Sora's body. But that was only if he tried. If he focused solely on his lover's ghost, as he did now, Sora may as well have been opaque._

'_I…' Sora bit his lip. 'I don't know how it happened. But Riku… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.' He was clearly on the verge of tears._

"_No! Don't be sorry, Sora. Never be sorry for something that could never have been your fault."_

'_It was. It must have been. That's why I can't go to whatever afterlife I'm going to yet. To punish me for whatever I did that I'm too stupid to realize. Riku, you cried. And Roxas…Roxas nearly killed himself over the fact that he was in too much shock to cry. Hell, I _saw_ what happened at the funeral. It wasn't just you or Roxas. _Everyone_ was like that. They all cried like that. Or they all wanted to die. The couple of people that didn't know me very well even felt it. I did that to them. I feel so horrible!'_

"_Don't! Listen, Sora. I don't care how you came back or why, but all I know is that I'm so blessed to have you again."_

'…_Thanks, Riku.'_

"_Hey, it's what I'm here for."_

'_But don't tell Roxy I'm here.'_

"_Eh? Why not?"_

'_Cause I'm pretty sure that ghosts aren't supposed to be here. I just get that feeling. Plus, you don't see too many ghosts out and about these days. Plus plus, Roxy-chan's going insane enough as it is. I don't even know what showing up might do to his head.'_

"_Because my sanity is clearly not very important."_

'_True dat, yo.'_

"…_Never say that again."_

'_Word.'_

End flashback/

"It always did amaze me how you were able to go from crack-behaviour, to angst, and then back again. You're probably bi-polar or something."

'Oh, prolly.'

"But did you see what Axel wrote?"

'I did.'

The e-mail wasn't exactly subtle. As a matter of fact, it was about as blunt as the roofing-nail-studded baseball bat that Axel was threatening to hit them both over the head with if he didn't get the answers he wanted, and damn fast.

'I wonder,' muttered Sora. 'If he tried to hit me over the head, if it would actually hurt at all.'

"I'm not going to let you find out, you know."

'So protective, Auntie-Riku! _We have a mother, at last we have a mother!_' sang Sora.

"_We'll be quiet as a mouse and build a lovely little house for Wen-dy!" _continued Riku.

They broke out in song together. "_Sooooo that Weeeeen-dy won't go away!"_

Riku shook his head. "I can't believe you made me watch that so many times that I memorized the songs."

'Oh, get over yourself. Everyone loves Peter Pan.' Riku just smiled.

"But hey, what do you think we should do about this?" He gestured to the computer screen in mild distress. Riku wasn't the sort of person who ever went past the stage of mild distress often. When he did, it usually meant that the country was about to or had just gone into a state of national emergency. Or someone important was dead. Occasionally both.

'I don't really know,' Sora admitted. 'I wasn't really supposed to show off that I'm out and about and stuff, so… I wonder just what he told Roxas to stave off the questioning. I wonder if Roxy saw me before he blacked out.'

"No matter what was said or done, this means a rat's nest of problems for you and me both."

'…Are you wishing I hadn't done it?'

Riku paled significantly. "Oh Gods, no," he whispered. "I thank heaven you did."

Sora's crazy (and possibly suicidal) twin brother, Roxas, had somehow lost his footing on the ledge of Twilight Town's clock tower after making out with another guy who looked like he'd taken fashion classes from a hedgehog and a colourblind clown. Now _that_ made an odd picture. While the description was amusing, the result would not have been. Roxas would have fallen over five stories to his death, but somehow or another, Sora had caught his arm at the last minute and saved him. Unfortunately, that also meant that Axel had seen Sora. That meant that he had seen Riku. Seeing a ghost is something you expect to happen only once if ever. But seeing a ghost with another human, that other human being alive and well, makes it a lot more real. So of course Axel would want answers. This way, he was pretty certain that there was a chance of getting them. Hence, the threatening e-mail.

"I want to tell him what he wants to know."

'Really? I thought you were the one who was so dead-set on no contact once I mentioned it,' said Sora.

"I _was_," Riku began, "until Axel started getting answers on his own. Well, maybe not _totally _on his own." Sora blushed slightly and looked at the ceiling innocently. "But no matter the case, we need to meet him face-to-face, no Roxas to worry about."

'That can be arranged,' murmured Sora, smiling.

"Sure can. Hey, get over here." Riku yanked Sora over by the waist and kissed him like they used to do when Sora was corporeal. That meant in the over-dramatic and hungry manner that makes little kids go "eeeeeeeew!" and run to leave the room. Like what you see the hero and heroine…engaging in…at the end of an old black-and-white B movie. French kissing.

It was true that most things couldn't be affected by Sora (for example, he couldn't type on the keyboard or pick up anything), but like with catching Roxas, Sora could be touched by humans if he felt strongly at the time. Whether it was fear, sadness, or utter glee, it didn't seem to matter. The only condition was that the person he touched had to be feeling the same way. Sora could always feel those who were alive clearly, though. Riku wasn't sure how it worked, but the only part he really cared about was being able to touch his lover still. There were a few upsides, even with the whole 'dead' thing.

* * *

Axel was sitting at the desk in his apartment. He looked over at Roxas, sleeping in Axel's bed once he had sent the e-mail he'd been writing. And no, it wasn't what you'd think.

Roxas's mum had had to go on a business trip for two days, tops. However, his mother didn't really trust Roxas on his own in the house. Either that, or she half-expected the neighbourhood to try to break in all at once. Axel couldn't say she wasn't right, in some respects. So Roxas was staying at Axel's house for two days. He still went back to his own house occasionally, mostly to pick up things for making food. Roxas was a far better cook than Axel, considering that the older man made everything explode except for bread. Well, that was a given, as they both worked in the local bakery. He _had _to be able to cook bread, at _least._ Even milk managed to combust when Axel touched it. Roxas had yet to figure that one out, but Axel had the utmost of faith in him.

Axel stood up to stretch his legs but found himself walking over to where Roxas rested, breathing only slightly. He bent down, inspecting the younger's face. Roxas had been acting like a total homophobe for a few hours, tops, before settling down. It was strange. Roxas was probably still uncomfortable with being gay. Or bi, or whichever he was.

As it was, restrictions had been placed on Axel's… touchy-feely habits. Roxas had made that perfectly clear when Axel had tried to grope him once in the kitchen. It had resulted in large amounts of vinegar being poured down Axel's throat. There wasn't much more Roxas could've done to put the redhead off of those particular kinds of actions. Besides, even after brushing his teeth 19 times, Axel's mouth still tasted like vinegar. Gross.

Axel bent down to kiss Roxas on the cheek. Hey, what Roxy didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Axel smiled without quite realizing it.

The computer pinged at the new e-mail in Axel's inbox. Unsurprisingly, it was from that Riku kid. It was, of course, about when he and Axel could meet. Apparently, the kid wanted to get this done as soon as possible, the meeting being scheduled for tomorrow. Axel peered at the last bit of text on the message. Most people didn't know it, but after being around smoke-filled air for most of his life due to his many instances of pyromaniac-ness, Axel's sight was pretty heavily impaired. Even _with _contacts, he couldn't see well. The last bit mentioned something about Roxas, and bringing him. Or was there a 'please don't' somewhere in there? Axel shrugged and looked over at Roxas. Yeah, he could manage to bring Roxas along. After all, his mum wasn't going to be home until tomorrow evening, and this thing was scheduled for lunchtime.

* * *

Demyx wiggled his butt as he hummed to himself. He rummaged around the refrigerator for his favourite snacks, pausing only when he needed to concentrate on the high note he was supposed to be hitting. He grabbed grapes, apples, a little bit of that stew that was so fabulous, celery, jam, peanut butter, a frosty from Wendy's, three carrots, a bottle of red wine, two eggs, a chocolate chip waffle, an uncooked toaster strudel of unknown flavouring, two AA batteries for his CD player, a big hunk of fruit-flavoured chocolate, a slice of apple pie that went all crumbly but was still pretty good, turkey, black forest ham, a gallon of 2 milk, and a friend's mysteriously misplaced car keys. How he managed to carry it all remained a mystery to the only other man in the building at that time.

"Zeeeeeexyyyyyyyyyyy! I got some snacks!"

'Those are all snacks?'

"Not the batteries, or the car keys!" Demyx grinned like the maniacal idiot he found it all too easy to pretend to be. Demyx was one of those people that you loved no matter what, and no matter how stupid they acted. Or how much they ate, for that matter. His hair was a mix of a mohawk and a mullet, or something like that. Zexion was a totally different story. Now, there was a man who knew how to work an emo haircut. Shame that Zexion was dead.

"Hey, Zexion?"

'What?'

"Do you ever miss eating?" Demyx leaned forward over his ham, trying to look Zexion in the face. It was pretty hard, considering that Zexion's glance switched from screen to screen in front of him.

'Sometimes,' admitted the older man. 'Not always.'

"Like when? As in, when do you miss it?"

'When I smell that fantastic stew that what's-his-name makes.'

"Lexaeus?"

'Yes, him. I can smell him cooking three blocks away.'

"Must be harsh. Y'know what? You need music! It's gotta be SO boring just looking at screens all day for Andes."

'The term is 'andemenings', Demyx, and no I do NOT-'

Demyx cut him off with hovering the earphones on either side of Zexion's head, then letting go. They slammed on to the man's ears with a resounding _snap_ and Zexion shut up as Caramelldancen played loudly in his ears. Dear Gods. It was the Speedy Mix.

'Demyx, why?'

"But c'mon, Sexy-Zexy, isn't it bouncy?"

Zexion gritted teeth that had taken so very much spectral abuse. 'Yes, Demyx. It is… bouncy.'

"Yay! Oh, and I might point out that your pride and joy of a palindrome: the Radar picked out something."

'EH?!' Zexion snapped back to his screens, staring at the one on the far left and up one from the middle. Sure enough, there was the small, bleeping dot that was precisely what Zexion had been looking for so concernedly. And Demyx had noticed it first. Like the previous three times.

"Hehe! You have to do dishes till the next one! Again!" Demyx grinned and then inspected the screens and his smile became a straight line. Demyx was one of those people physically incapable of frowning. He could still look distressed, though, as he did now. "Zexion?"

'What?'

"This one's in Twilight Town."

'Oh… crap.'

* * *

The place that Axel and Riku had designated between them was a restaurant, actually. That might've just been because they both had a thing for food. But Axel had had a wonderful, awful idea. Which was why he and Roxas were both in the Melting Pot at the appointed time.

The Melting Pot was a pretty fancy place, considering it cost a fortune just to go. But the food was 100 worth it. Their…_anything_… was better than… well, anything! Some people were willing to sacrifice a little portion of their life savings on a visit. It was also the best fondue place for miles. Now, fondue meant fire and those little pointy stabby forks that you put your raw food on first before cooking it. Sharp things, fire and great food? An Axel place if there ever was one. Thus the choice.

Roxas walked rather close to Axel. He hadn't ever been to a place like this before, but being there with Axel really did NOT help matters in the least. It was one thing to be at a fancy place with someone respectable. Axel's looks didn't exactly fit the bill. More's the pity.

Axel pushed open the door and walked up to the maitre d'. She looked up and smiled professionally. Somehow or another, she reminded Roxas of Yuffie.

"Welcome to the Melting Pot fondue restaurant! Do you have a reservation at present?" Axel gave her a death glare that ended all death glares. "…Close enough! Smoking or non?" She looked up at Axel, thought for half a second, then amended herself: "Perhaps smoking would suit you better…"

"Uh, strike that. If it's flammable but _not supposed to be on fire_, then you don't want this guy anywhere within twenty feet of it," warned Roxas from the safety of Axel's back.

Riku had come up at that very instant to see if Axel had arrived yet. Seeing whom his companion was, his eyes widened. He smacked his forehead on the nearest wall. He had specifically told Axel in the message _not _to bring the little angst-machine. Damn it. Damn it all to hell. Sometimes Riku really thought that life thought it unbelievable funny to screw him over. Figuratively, of course.

"Ah, ma'am?"

The woman turned to face Riku. "Yes, sir? What is it you needed?"

"They're in my party. Sorry about them. I'll try and keep him from setting things on fire, ma'am." Riku grabbed the arms of the two of them and bodily dragged them over to his table. He had purposely asked for a corner table where people just looking in would not be able to see them – especially in regards to Sora's almost-transparent form.

The poor woman stood in the foyer with a mourning expression on her face. Somehow, she had the feeling that she would need to run for her life like a madwoman before the night was over, perhaps before it ever came. At least they were all fairly hot. Particularly the shorter ones.

* * *

"I thought I asked you not to bring Roxas," muttered Riku.

"You did? Well damn, man, then don't type with a _size_ _1 font,_ man! I can't read that crap!"

"And you couldn't have made it big enough to, oh, I don't know, _read_?!"

"Jesus, don't piss yourself. If something needs to be said, why can't it be said in front of Roxie?"

"You know damn well why! After all, didn't I tell you that Roxas wasn't supposed to know that S-"

"I'm right here you know. I can hear every word you're saying," Roxas said pointedly, raising his eyebrows meaningfully at Riku.

_He knows,_ thought Riku and Axel simultaneously. _But how?_ Both sweatdropped.

"Actually, Axel, I'm going to go wash my hands. Get me something with chicken and not involving anything green. Not that I don't like your eyes – it's just that I'm not going to eat anything that possesses chlorophyll." Roxas went back up to where the maitre d' was in order to ask for directions.

"He totally knows," they told each other.

"Yeah, but, what _all _does he know?" Axel wondered.

"He probably saw Sora when he was falling or something. Either that, or he guessed a long time ago." Riku nodded to the person that was hiding below the table. Sora's head, large brown spikes and all, popped up from below.

"You mean you two were hanging around Roxas _before_ the whole clock tower stuff?" Axel raised a practically nonexistent eyebrow. They both had been burned off a long time ago. They had been gone for such a long time that Axel actually shaved them off out of habit.

"Sora," began Riku, rubbing his temples.

'I sorta went into his head and gave him friendly advice as the little person in his head?' Sora chuckled weakly, not sure how Axel was going to take the news.

"I told him not to, if it helps."

"Depends, what did you… _hint_… to Roxie to do?"

'Go out with you and pronounce himself either bi or gay.'

"Then no worries. Hey, the little voices might just have pretty good ideas."

'Not if you're a psycho axe-murderer!'

"Please shut up, kid."

"His name is _Sora_ and if you talk to him in that tone, I will personally grab a wire and yank it up between your legs so hard it will bisect you down the middle."

"_Ow_, that's just _mean_."

"Damn straight."

'Riku, really, it's okay! But… why can't we tell Roxas that I'm out and about?' Sora stared at his fingers as they drummed the table distractedly.

"You said it yourself. Didn't you say it was better that no one knew you were around?" Riku looked at his lover with not a little sympathy. _Crap! If he gives me the puppy face, I'll never get through this argument! Plus, I really get what's going through Roxas's head right now. I kinda feel bad for him. Or I would, if, y'know, Roxas probably didn't already know that Sora was… well, as close to alive as the poor baby can get._

'But that was just a _feeling_!' whined Sora. 'I really just want to talk to him, so why would just a gut feeling matter, really?' Sora turned his face to Riku.

_Oh Gods, not the fucking puppy face. Oh, lord, it is. Must… resist. Not… resisting…well…_

"Fine," sighed Riku.

'YAY!'

Half the people in the restaurant looked around to see who had yelled. Sora blushed and sunk down in the seat. It was then that Roxas chose to get back from the bathroom.

"So, what did I miss?" Roxas smiled benignly. That was one of the changes that had occurred in Roxas since falling off of the Twilight Town clock tower: he smiled more. Axel and Riku had a pretty good theory as to why.

'Hi, nii-chan!' Sora piped up. He had never been one for tact.

"I _**knew**_ it!" Roxas whispered fiercely. "_**You**_ saved me back then, right? Wasn't that you?"

'Yep! So you _did _know!' the twins grinned insanely at each other.

"I feel so left out," Axel moaned to Riku. He nodded, the perfect image of a forlorn lover. The twins chuckled at the stupidity of their boyfriends, and, naturally, their own stupidity for having stuck around them, even once dead, in one's case.

* * *

'Ah, Demyx? Demyx!' Zexion gasped as he tried to run alongside his boyfriend. 'Please, just slow down!'

"But… we need to tell Superior!"

'No… we don't! I know this is eating at you, so… you don't really _have _to tell anyone anything!'

Demyx turned his face away from Zexion, but he slowed down all the same. "I… I swore an oath, and so did you, the instant we joined this dumb-ass organization. I follow through with my promises, even when –" he swallowed "-even when it means backstabbing my hometown. They don't remember me anyway. They don't remember _you_."

Zexion looked at the floor. This was killing Demyx, and both knew it. 'Listen, you tell Superior. If we're lucky, he'll tell me to go. Or you. Or both of us. Someone who can fail and not get in trouble for it. We'd just be called idiots for slipping up and they'd let the poor person, whoever they are, go.'

"We both know you're lying. If we fuck up, someone else'll just take the case. Someone meaner. There's no way out of it, is there?" Demyx turned wet eyes to his lover. "There really is _**no way out**_."

'Just don't tell them.' Zexion stared Demyx in the eyes. 'I'm serious. I don't mind.'

"Is there something I ought to know about?"

Both men spun around in a painful kind of fear. Actually, they spun so fast they knocked foreheads. That didn't stop them from staring up in terror at the much taller man with long silvery-gray hair and molten orange eyes.

'Xe-Xemnas! We – er, I – just, we were about to – I mean…' Zexion said.

"I need to talk with you," Demyx glanced at Zexion, "…alone, preferably."

"Granted. What is it?" Xemnas said, walking off with Demyx. Zexion stayed where he was, staring at Demyx's back as if it were the saddest thing he had seen in his life. He shivered and sat down by the wall. He needed to think.

Xemnas closed the door behind them. Demyx clearly heard the _click_ of the lock and gulped. Xemnas had the sort of perverted and cold air that made you think he was going to tie you to a bed and rape you whenever he was in close proximity. Thank the Gods, he had yet to try anything of the sort on his employees. That didn't do much to crush the fear they all had of him, though.

"So, you felt that there was something that needed to be said that Zexion could not be here for?"

"Yes," Demyx said. It was hard to begin.

He plunged in. "The computer located another Andemening of considerable strength, rated about a 9.3 on the scale, at 5:42 PM today."

"It is 8:29 PM now. Why wasn't this mentioned earlier?" Xemnas said.

"Because… well, sir, it's, uh… the subject is in Twilight Town." Demyx said.

"I see. Well, because you have the greatest history with that place, you are assigned to the case. You may take one companion, but not Zexion. If I am correct, he was attempting to keep you from telling me anything when I arrived. He needs discipline. You are expected to leave tomorrow morning. Understood?"

Demyx choked a little. "But, sir! Ah…" Xemnas raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to… to Zexion, will you…?"

"No. But if you fail to complete so menial a task as this, I will. He has not overstayed his welcome just yet."

Demyx let go of a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. Unfortunately, it didn't totally wash away the panic that stayed in his soul. Twilight Town? Could he really do… _that_ to a former resident? Wasn't that what he had given his very freedom to ensure that Zexion never went through? How cruel could he _be_?

Demyx left the room shaking all over. He needed Marluxia to come with him. _He_ would never flinch at a job like this. 'Course, that would mean that Larxene would want to come, just to heighten the pain, and the two of them together could wreck utter havoc upon humanity. It was a good thing Demyx had never really _met_ all humanity. Otherwise, he would've felt very sorry for it.

* * *

"So… ever since… or-" Roxas said.

'Oh, no! I actually dunno when I first popped up. I think I started kind of regaining consciousness, like, a day or two after I died and stuff. Truth be told, I have no clue when I actually died, 'cause, y'know, I was passed out for who-knows-how-long before I… and stuff.' Sora said.

"I got _none_ of that," Axel said.

'Aww, feeling belligerent?'

Everyone turned to look at Sora. "Do you even know what that word _means_?"

'Not really, but it's a really fun word to say. Besides, you don't know any more than I do.'

"I do."

"Roxie?"

"It means… well, it's like… feeling warlike, or really angry. Violent."

"Oh… then no, I'm not really feeling belligerent. Heeeeey, that really _is_ fun to say!"

'Told you,' Sora said.

"Too much crack is packed into such a small table…" muttered Riku.

"Now, see here Riku darling, if you wanted crack, you could've just asked me. After all, I've got at least three pockets on that trench coat positively _filled_ with-"

"Axel, if you pull out a handful of crack in a sophisticated place like this, I will personally take off one of your toes and stab it with one of your precious little red fondue forks that you claimed like a rabid dog when we got here and roast it in the pot with the boiling oil."

'Now, Roxie, that's pretty morbid,' winced Sora.

"Not to mention pure _evil_…"

"Well, that's why I love him," said Axel. "And besides, I don't keep crack in the pockets of a _trench coat_. Roxie, How could you think that of me? Now see, I keep it back at the apartment." Roxas slapped his own forehead hard enough to leave a mark.

"Here is your food! We hope you enjoy it," said the waitress before hurrying away.

"Ooooh, _food_," Axel said. Roxas grabbed the plate and began portioning out the uncooked meat equally between the three of them; Sora had explained early on that he couldn't eat without feeling extreme discomfort. Axel had said that he didn't know that ghosts could experience, erm… 'blockages'.

"Oh, Roxie, give me your shrimp, pleeease? 'Sides, you don't even _like_ seafood!"

"Only if you give me your chicken. I do NOTHING for free."

'Oh? Tell me, Roxas, when did you lose your virginity?' Sora asked evilly.

Roxas turned red. "That's NOT what I meant, you little undead prat." Riku shot Roxas a look, and then stole a hunk of beef. "You bastard!" Roxas stole it back.

"Better than being a prostitute, Roxas, dahling. By the way, which oil is the best, the right one or the left one?" asked Riku.

"I'll try the left, and Roxie can try the right," suggested Axel. They all agreed on it and set to cooking, but Roxas kept sending Deathglares across the table.

Roxas's chicken cooked a lot faster than Axel's beef. He pulled it out and dipped it in the barbeque sauce he'd taken the liberty of stealing from Axel and bit. Moaning it ecstasy, he nearly rolled onto the floor. "Oh, _gawd_, that's _fabulous._" He twitched a little and bit it off the fork completely, eyes glazing over.

"Hey, hey, mine's not done yet…" whined Axel. "And why won't you ever make those sounds for _me_?"

'Hey! No sex talk at quality places like this! Plus, I seriously don't EVER want to think about my little brother doing nasty things… like… _that_.' Sora shivered.

"Ah, Sora? Welcome to the magical world of adults." Riku brushed up against Sora's leg as he turned red. Well, reddish-white. Pinkish.

"That's so-" _chomp_ "-cute!" Axel cooed. Roxas traded his shrimp for Axel's chicken and tried the left oil. "But we both know that you called me here for something other than pigging out on absolutely _fabulous_ meats and flirtin' with your boytoy. And, y'know, confirming that I'm not crazy when I saw some dead guy save Roxie's life."

"I never said you _weren't_ insane, but I see your point," said Riku. "I called you here because I wanted to stress the importance of Roxas _not_ becoming involved. In other words, I didn't want you telling him. See, Sora wanted only me to know in the first place that he was out and about. His mother, Roxas, Kairi, Hayner, Olette, Namine, Pence, any of them. Here's why: he's got a wicked bad feeling about what could happen if he did tell, if he did flaunt it. Not to mention common sense; wannabe exorcists crawling out of the woodwork if it ever got out. Me, I keep my mouth shut. Sora wanted to look over everyone and keep them safe if he could. Problem is, even as a ghost, you can only be in one place at a time. He decided to stick around Roxas after seeing that he was the one killing himself the most. Apparently, after one particular incident, Sora decided to drop a line in Roxas's mind." Sora blushed. "He wasn't really supposed to, but hey, if it got the job done. I told you, Sora half-convinced Roxas to bat for the other team." It was Roxas's turn to blush. "And this is where I sort of conclude. I know that some of it makes no sense, for example, Sora just 'getting a feeling' that something bad would happen if we told, but honestly, Sora's instincts have never been wrong, even in real life. When you've been around him as long as I've been, there are two rules."

"Rule number one, Sora is always right," started Roxas, knowing the speech.

"Rule number two, in the event that Sora is wrong, see rule number one," finished Riku.

"Okay, okay, I got it. No printing," Axel said with a Pilipino accent.

"Exactly."

'I think I oughta explain a few other things, too,' Sora commented. 'Okay, so, I have no idea what the difference is between just going to some afterlife-slash-oblivion and becoming a ghost. Can't help you there. But, y'know, I can't touch stuff. Well, I can feel it but it can't feel it. That is, unless it's alive and feeling the same emotion as I am. Not sure why with that one. So Riku and I can still-'

"Lalalalalalalala, I am not listening to my brother's stories of gayness, lalalala," mumbled Roxas, sticking his fingers in his ears.

"Oh, c'mon, Rox, this is how we learn!" said Axel, grinning evilly as he yanked his fingers out of his ears. Roxas squeaked.

After about a half-hour of that kind of talk, Axel's fondue fork hit the metal plate. "Ah! We're… we're out of the holy meat and other various and sundry junk foods. Riku, dahling, fetch us more with your bottomless purse?"

"My purse is not bottomless, so I suppose we ought to pay and leave. I hope we can keep in touch." Riku began to stand up.

"And Axel, it's his _man bag_ not a purse," said Roxas.

"I know where you sleep at night," said Riku.

"And I know where you keep your panty shields." Axel grinned. "Heh. Got that one from Cid." Riku stuck out his tongue at Axel as he paid.

"Who?"

"Never mind."

'Roxas, love you forever.'

"Yeah… Love you too, big brother." They embraced, crying a little. They could, simply because they were feeling the same way. Parting, they clasped hands in a final gesture. Riku and Sora ran off to Riku's car, leaving Axel and Roxas at Axel's beaten-up vehicle.

"You really love your brother, don't you?" Axel asked softly.

"Yeah. I didn't tell you, but… that was why I pushed you away back then, on the clock tower. I really liked you, and I suppose I still do-"

"Suppose?"

"-but I just felt so guilty that I had the ability to be happy when I hadn't even cried for Sora yet. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, y'know? I'm sorry."

"Shit. I'd've been the same way, trust me. Sometimes it hurts more to cry, and you just don't want to let it all hurt that much. But you still didn't let me touch you after that. Why?"

"It's gonna sound stupid, but the first thought that went through my head was that Sora was still _alive_-alive. I thought that he'd, like risen from the grave. The problem was, I was at the funeral. I saw him go into the coffin and everything. For him to be alive, he'd've had to have his body, right? I thought that we'd buried my brother alive and I'd done nothing about it. That just made me feel worse. Eventually I managed to remember that I'd been able to see a little bit of the clock tower behind Sora, or actually, _through_ Sora. But yeah. That was what sort of convinced me that he actually was dead and I'd seen his ghost. It's hard to believe either story. Or, it _was_, until now."

"Damn, you have one screwed up head."

"Heh, I know," Roxas said, smiling weakly.

"You wanna listen to Scissor Sisters first or Anberlin?" asked Axel, getting into the driver's seat.

"Well, the rule is that the driver pick, but it would really rock if you just _happened_ to decide on Anberlin…"

"Scissor Sisters it is."

"Ugh! You shmuck…" Roxas smacked his friend-almost-boyfriend upside the head.

"Ow! Jeebus, Roxie, that's fragile… and try the Midol; it works wonders- OW!"

Axel was already on the highway home. "So, how well do you know that Riku guy?"

"Hmm? Oh, we just kind of don't like each other. See, when I first saw him I thought he was a big pervert out to corrupt my brother, so, y'know, machetes flying in his direction. Sora was the one who finally stopped the carnage. He forced us to talk like civilized people and become, well, the closest we're ever going to get to friends. Plus, that was about the time that they first sprung it on us all that Sora's cancer was going to need monitoring soon. I figured that if anything was really wrong with him, that he needed someone to make him happy. I was right. Riku really helped Sora all the way to the end. I'm glad I didn't kill him. Sora never would've forgiven me."

"So, Whaddya think your bro thinks of me?" Axel tried to strike a pose while driving but immediately had to turn his attention back to the Frito-Lay truck he was trying to avoid hitting.

"Heh. I'd say he likes you just fine. He 'convinced me to bat for the other team', remember?" Roxas said.

"You're listening to Scissor Sisters. You're gay no matter what."

"True. Anberlin time."

"No! I Don't Feel Like Dancin' is on next!" Axel looked genuinely worried.

"Then listen to it and change the CD."

"Yes, Mom," sniffled Axel.

Some how, Axel managed to get home before his song was over. Roxas had the sneaking suspicion that he'd gone at least 10 over the speed limit.

"So, home sweet home. Y'wanna stay the night? I wouldn't have any qualms with it," Axel smirked.

"Only if you behave yourself."

"No promises, Foxy-Roxie," Axel skipped along the driveway.

"Never mind behaving, if you never say that again, it's a deal," Roxas said.

"'Kay!" Axel trotted in front of Roxas, considering that he was the one who had the keys in the first place. "Hey, you don't mind spending the night in my bed, do you?"

"Say _WHAT_?!"

_It's kind of funny,_ Axel thought, _I knew he would be a little freaked, but I didn't calculate him jumping three feet, two inches in the air…_ "I mean it," he said out loud. "I have a big bed and I almost never sleep on it anyway, so… yeah! And by the way, you can't have the guest bed because there isn't one."

"What kind of house doesn't have a guest bed?" Roxas muttered testily.

"Well, see, there's this interesting story about a poor hobo woman that cared for me when I was quite young and lost in the world… "

"Oh, shut up, Axel. And resurrected brother or no, that is still MY ass you happen to be touching. Hands off."

* * *

Zexion checked the document one last time, just to be certain. Demyx had been right. There really had been no way out of it. Zexion considered digitally altering the document just to create a loophole, but that was impossible. After all, that bastard Xemnas had written it himself and had a copy of it in his room that could be used as a cross-reference should he feel the need to employ it. Why was Zexion's life – er, death – a hell? No, this wasn't hell. He felt much too cold for this to be hell.

* * *

"Umm, Marls?"

"Marly?"

"Mar-mar?" Demyx knocked one last time on Marluxia's door, tapping his foot to a beat from some random Disney song, probably Hercules, which he'd forgotten the lyrics to when he was five. The soft pink door remained closed firmly in front of his nose. Demyx considered setting up traps to assault Marluxia when he returned, or when he finally came out of his room.

"Marluxia, I need some help."

The door jerked wide open. There stood Master Straight-despite-my-outwardly-gay-appearance himself. He knew that tone of Demyx's. It meant trouble, usually something long, complicated, and hellish in prospect.

"What did you need?" he asked tiredly, standing to the side in order to let Demyx in.

"Hey, Marly. Thanks for letting me in," he said.

"How could I not when you had that kill-me-my-life-fucking-stinks voice on?" Marluxia dashed into the little kitchen in his apartment-like abode and returned with a half-eaten carton of ice cream. It was butter pecan flavoured. "So spill it, man. What's got you so out of it?" His face darkened, contrasting his pink hair. "Was it what you wouldn't talk to me about last time?"

Demyx swallowed. "Yes."

A long, awkward/easy silence began. It was awkward for Demyx, as he knew that he'd have to be the one to begin the conversation. For Marluxia, spoon hanging out of his mouth unconcernedly, Demyx would take his own sweet time building up the courage to tell him what he'd never been able to tell him before.

"Okay, you know Zexion?" Demyx began.

"Of course. What did he do?"

"Nothing, nothing! Well, nothing _bad_. He's my baby, y'know." Marluxia smiled. He was both happy internally that his friend was happy with his partner and trying to encourage him to continue down that road.

"Well, you know he's a ghost. And how odd it is that he's… well…"

"Demyx, I'm part of the organization. I know damn well our policies."

"Destroy all spiritually or alter-secularly beings as they corrupt and unbalance the natural state of human existence. Protect the young and destroy the past," they chorused, each with their own traces of misery.

"You wanted to say that it's odd that Xemnas hadn't ordered Zexion's annihilation yet, right?" Marluxia said.

"Yeah," Demyx said.

Demyx licked his lips subtly and continued. "Well, Xemnas found out that Zexion had skills that this company lacked. He also knew that Zexion had a boyfriend…"

"Wait, when was this?" Marluxia asked.

"It was a little over four years ago. When Zexion was still alive and we both lived in Twilight Town."

"Wait… don't you dare tell me he-"

"Xemnas kidnapped me."

Silence reigned for a few sickly minutes. Marluxia, for once, had no commentary to add.

"Well, shit," he said finally.

"Yeah," Demyx said weakly. "Well, see, he needed Zexion. But yeah. I was taken and a note left for Zexion. Zexy, being as cool and as… stupid as he is, came.

"When I was first taken, it had taken them, like, forever just to capture me. They figured I had a lot of fight in me, so… I was useful. They wanted us both, but if we were both necessities, there wasn't really a way that they could afford _not _to have us. They needed a way to ensure that we didn't get all of our freedoms. They needed restrictions on us. I think that was when they decided to…"

"You don't have to say it, you know," Marluxia said gently. "I think I can piece out what happened next."

"No, I started it, and hell's bells, I'm going to finish it," Demyx growled. "They murdered Zexion, summoned his spirit in semi-corporeal format and threatened to get rid of him if either of us refused to comply with his wishes. Xemnas did it personally, I _know_ he did. So they keep Zexion here and make me go out and kill other ghosts like Zexion." Demyx's voice just about snapped in two as he began bawling. "And… and – the comp – the computer said that the, the new ghost is…"

"Is what?" Marluxia prodded, trying to get the last bit out.

"Is in Twilight Town!"

Marluxia lost all colour in his face. "The place where you and Zexion – "

"Yeah," sniffled Demyx. " Considering that I lived there until, I was, like, 15, I probably know the ghost _personally_."

"Well, shit," Marluxia repeated.

"Help me," Demyx moaned. "There's no way out."

* * *

Oooooh, _drama_! And angst. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, but my soul died a little bit inside during the last part. I just can't bear what I put Demy-Dem through! I'm so heartless. And, the word 'Andemening' means 'spirit' or something like that in... Swedish? I think that's right. Anyway, reviews?

Review and I shall respond. It's my new policy. I'm gonna be COOL, dammit.

I LOVE YOU. SPREAD THE LOVE VIA THAT PERIWINKLE BUTTON OVER THERE.


	3. Patricide

**Well, here's some weirdness. A third chapter. Wowza. It's already so late in the month. I guess that thanks are in order to all of the cool people who reviewed. You all seriously rule this world and the next as well. My leg itches. Damn. But recently, my attention has been going to two bands: I've been remembering why I loved Angels and Airwaves so much and I've been introduced to the beauty of Anberlin. Love ya, bye!**

**DISCLAIMER: sings **_**Yooou don't ooown me…**_

****

* * *

Roxas started writing. He'd owned a journal for the longest time, but had never really used it. He'd written in it on the day of Sora's death, and had written in it about twice since then, once when he first met Axel, and the second time when he had fallen off of the clock tower. Now, though, he had an unusually long entry. Every detail had to be recalled and jotted down. It didn't take long, as Roxas had a fairly photographic memory. _Let's see, we arrived, Riku was decidedly less than subtle with the whole 'Axel, why the hell'd you bring the brat here' crap…I faked going to the bathroom and eavesdropped…_Roxas tapped his lower lip with his pencil and decided that good writing required food. He walked over to the little cabinet that he kept next to the mahogany desk in case of situations just like this one. He opened the little black door and grinned as he saw that he still had copious amounts of junk food in there. There were also those little packets of instant angel hair pasta with alfredo sauce that he had the tendency to kill people for. He grabbed a can of Pringles and a bottle of water and leaned back in his spinny chair, putting his legs up on the wall. He was probably at risk for choking, but at that point in time, Roxas didn't care. Thinking about how much of an upturn his life had taken in the past few days made him unusually happy. That didn't keep him from staying inside like a hermit. 'A Whisper and a Clamor' by Anberlin played faintly in the background. Pringles, water, and music. All was right with the world.

A small pebble smacked against Roxas's window, abruptly startling Roxas onto the floor.

"Axel," he muttered. There was only one person who was _that_ stupid. Throwing open the window, he looked for the telltale hedgehog red hair – and found it.

"Axel, you are the biggest damn retard in the world. My window is on _the first floor_. You could've just knocked on the front door."

"Yeah, " he winked, "But that's nowhere as near as much fun. You gonna let me in?" Roxas shook his head, but smiled and stepped to the side to let Axel in through the window. Axel _vaulted_ in, tucking and rolling upon impact with Roxas's floor and tumbling until making painful-sounding contact with the wall.

"Ow," he mumbled.

Roxas smiled. "See, that's what you get for being an idiot."

"So mean…" Axel said. Roxas silenced him with a soft bite to the ear, perhaps involving slight bits of tongue. "Ah- er, umm, ye- yeah… what was I sayin'? Oh, uh, right, what're you doing now?"

"I'm just writing down all the crap that's happened over the last couple days." Roxas intentionally fell full-force into his spinny chair, causing it to rotate. Roxas had a hard time keeping his eyes on Axel while spinning around, because whenever he had to turn his head quickly around to keep him in sight, the momentum kept the chair moving.

"A _diary_?"

"Correction, Master Gay Police: a _journal_."

"That's what they all say. But damn, Roxie, that excuse is right up there with manbag," Axel said. "People are going to think you're gay."

"You're right, wouldn't want _that_," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. Axel looked uncomfortable for a second.

"Actually, I might not… uh, want to flaunt the gayness, you know."

"Huh?" Roxas finally stopped his chair from spinning entirely to look at Axel seriously. "What, why?"

"See, my folks are really, sorta, uh, the kind of people who are against homos. I kind of told them I was seeing a cute girl named Roxanne."

Roxas looked dumbstruck, then chuckled quietly. "And I…" he was laughing out loud now. "I told my ma I was seeing a Canadian redhead named Annie!" Axel snorted, trying to hold back his own laughter. He failed and soon was cracking up as hard as Roxas.

"Haha! Why, your Mom a homophobe, too?"

"Haha, no, but, hehe… she kind of wants grandkids, and unless one of us has anatomy that shouldn't be on guys, I don't think that… yeah… And by the way, you're Catholic."

"Tell her we'll adopt!" chuckled Axel.

"Ooh! I want a cute little house in the suburbs!" Roxas cried, arms flinging open. His left hand hit the Pringles container by accident and Pringles went all over the floor. Roxas groaned, his glee ebbing considerably. "Aww, crap, I _just_ vacuumed this floor. And that was a new can, too."

"The floor is clean, you say?" Axel raised the section of flesh where the rest of his eyebrow was supposed to be. He knelt down to the ground and picked up a chip in his teeth, nabbing the rest of it as he straightened with a _crunch_.

"Axel? You don't even know what's on this carpet!" Roxas gasped.

"No, but I _do_ know that you just cleaned it, so it's at the cleanest it's getting. Plus, these taste good. I like salt, it's what keeps me from starving." Looking thoughtful, Roxas knelt down and picked up a chip, inspecting it. It really did seem clean.

"I… I cannot be-_lieve_ I'm doing this…" he muttered, then stuffed it is his mouth. He squinted his eyes as if expecting to keel over any second. One eye cracked open and glanced about the room. He held up three fingers and saw only three. Cool. "Hey, I'm not dead and no botulism!" he grinned.

"I could soil myself with glee," Axel commented.

"Please don't."

Roxas reached for another chip, but Axel got there at about the same time. Axel still refused to use his hands. He licked and bit Roxas's fingers open, then stole it.

"H- hey! That was mine!"

"A lot of things of yours are gonna be mine later." Roxas blushed dark red and looked at the ceiling as if it could save him. "Hehe, Roxie, you're darker than the tomatoes in your mom's garden out back."

Roxas glared. "You know _why_ Mum's tomatoes are so red? Because they're planted over the body of a weird pervert that she killed and buried when we first moved here."

"I get it, I get it."

Axel smiled and yanked Roxas onto his lap. They stayed like that for a good ten minutes, just breathing the other's scent and feeling warm at not being alone. Finally, Roxas jerked a little, laughing. Axel gave him a questioning look, confused by the sudden movement. Roxas looked up at him and grinned.

"I just remembered. Do you know what today is?"

"No, why?"

"Hehe. Axel, today is Valentine's Day."

"…like the massacre?"

"Yes, you 'tard. Like the massacre."

* * *

"Where the fuck _is_ he?" Marluxia checked his purple watch with little pink and orange plastic flowers for the nineteenth time since arriving at the train station in Hollow Bastion. There must've been the prom or something that night, seeing as there were girls in dresses and corsages running around to find their girlfriends and dragging their unfortunate boyfriends behind them. Just about every girl giggled a little as they passed Marluxia and his… hair. One girl actually was daring enough to ask if it was a wig, to the eternal shame of her man. He had given her a DeathGlare to end DeathGlares. She and her friends had flinched and run like hell. Some of the guys who didn't have dates (for the obvious reason that they were… well, _that_ way) had tried hitting on him a couple of times. That was why Marluxia kept butter knives conveniently hidden in his jacket pockets for times like that. Those guys were bleeding severely in a locked men's bathroom somewhere near the freeway, or perhaps in a sewer.

Marluxia looked at his very feminine watch a twentieth time and tapped his foot. Demyx could've at least_ mentioned_ that he was going to be 45 minutes late. The train that they had been supposed to be on had left a good fifteen minutes ago. Marluxia knew this because he had checked his watch exactly when it had left, deciding that Demyx would really get an earful if and when he decided to show the bloody hell up.

"MAR-MAR-BABY!!!"

Marluxia's head snapped up from his watch, accusing and pissy. Oh _hell_ yes, Demyx was getting bitched at. "You're FOURTY-FIVE FECKING MINUTES LATE!!!" he growled/hissed/yelled. The prom kids backed away from them both, probably assuming that it was some sort of date between the scary pink-head and the disgustingly frabjous blond.

"Hey, hey, don't hate," Demyx grinned, now within speaking distance. "I got here eventually, didn't I?"

Marluxia looked to the left of the blond, then to the right. He began circling him intently. "Hey, why are you circling me? What, where you a _vulture_ in another life?"

"Where's Larxene?" Marluxia asked, the accusatory tone almost a default setting by now.

Demyx pushed his fingers together. "Well, see, she's under strict, strict watch, considering that she went on that random-killing-spree-rampage-thing. They didn't want her running lose on urban society yet, no matter how much I made the boo-boo eyes at them."

"Boo-boo eyes?"

"Yeah. They always work on Zexy." Demyx pouted.

Marluxia facepalmed. "Other people aren't gay ghosts infatuated with you."

"_Really?!_"

"Shut up. We're going to catch the next train for Twilight Town, and you are going to shut it until then, got it?"

"Okily – Dokily!"

One girl listened to this exchange, asking her friend for a small reprieve from their planned activities. She crept closer, brushing her long, braided blond hair away from her ear, straining to listen. Hearing their plans, she whipped out a small, shiny, and orange cell phone with a little plastic chocobo hanging from the top along with assorted beads that she'd thought were cool and stolen in Arts and Crafts class her freshman year. Punching in a familiar number, she fumbled it up to her ear.

"Hey, Roxas?"

"_That you, Rikku? I haven't seen you since… it was Christmas and Sora's funeral, right?"_

"Roxas, yeah, it's me. There are some people, suspicious people like the ones that Riku told me to watch out for. They're headed for Twilight Town and were talking about someone in some organization going on a killing spree? It sounds weird, so I'm wondering if there was some joking going on in there. I was just told to look out for suspicious people that want in on the ole TT. I'll try to tail them, Okay? I'm going to head to Twilight Town along with them. Any chance that there's a place I can stay that won't arouse suspicion on _me_?"

"_Waitwaitwait, Riku told you to spy on people? And you're coming home? But, but… what?"_

Rikku sighed into the phone. Her cousin could be so damn _dense_ sometimes. "Yes, yes, now can I come to your house or not?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, I may have to ask Mum-" Rikku sighed, this time in relief, as she snapped her phone closed. She didn't know why Riku had asked her to tail suspicious people, but she did know that it would be REAAAALLY fun to do so. Humming Mission: Impossible and dancing a little, she began her fun-tastic trailing of the suspicious and obviously gay people.

* * *

"Roxie? Who was that?" Axel asked, perplexed because Roxas had been.

"That was… my weird cousin Rikku. She said something about tailing suspicious people under the orders of Riku. She said a lot of weird stuff, not that that's not normal for her, but it involved her coming here. Like, not just Twilight Town general area. I mean that she thinks she's going to come stay in my _house_," Roxas said.

"Ehh?! She can just… do that?" Axel said.

Roxas sighed. "She can. She's family, even if we don't really like to admit it to the public."

Axel winced. "She that bad?"

"No, no, just… high maintenance."

"I see."

"That, and every straight boy, single or not, tends to seek her out for some reason or another." Axel looked a little worried, probably with good reason.

"Your cousin seems like a handful and a half."

"I guess you could say that," said Roxas. He got off of his fabulous spinny chair in order to go tell his Mum the less-than-welcome news.

* * *

Namine waved goodbye to Olette and Kairi as they reached her home. She smiled at them a final time and then turned with a sigh to the house before her. She bit the inside of her cheek, the smile so far gone it was impossible that it had ever existed, or ever would. It was a very nice-looking suburban house with nice white walls and a nice, fawn coloured roof and very lovely bushes and flowers that were much more beautiful in the summer than now, in the dead of February. The ground seemed dead, but the property, all in all, looked like a very inviting and nice place to be. It was also remarkably bland. Olette had once said that the house reminded her of Namine herself. She had chosen to take that as a compliment.

She darted around to the far side of the house, peering into the garage. There was one car there, a silver minivan that reeked of 'proper family'. Namine sighed with relief and turned towards the door. She pulled out her keychain, keys and all, and fumbled for the correct one, which could be easily identified as it was painted with bright, swirling colours that looked to have the consistency of nail polish. Well, Namine was creative, and that meant that she used any and all mediums available to her. Why, she had once created a work of pure art with nothing but condiments that she had stolen from the cafeteria in her art class. The horseradish had been particularly troublesome, as had the very runny hot sauce.

The nice, bland cherry wood door swung open at last, admitting Namine. She looked around for her mother, but didn't see her explicitly.

"I'm home!" she called. Feet pattered in some fairly distant part of the house.

"**_Douceur_**!" It was her mother's pet name for her. It meant 'sweetness' in French. The two embraced, crushing the other in their own arms. Surprisingly enough, Namine's mother was a very short woman. She was actually a little shorter than Namine herself.

"Er, Mum, I think you're…" Namine chuckled nervously, pointing to her throat, indicting that she couldn't breathe, and perhaps would like to. Imagine that.

"Oh! Terribly sorry!" Her mother let go, but continued to look at her daughter fondly. Her expression shifted from fondness to unease. "Dear, he's not home yet, but I have a feeling that… well, my _douceur_, you ought not be, erm, _in range_ when he comes home. Please, to your room. Lock it until I come for you, alright?"

Namine swallowed and bit her lip, nodding. She turned to the staircase and trotted up to the second floor. Upstairs was her room, a bathroom, a hallway, a closet for extra storage, and a room that Namine used for her artistic needs. There was a door at the top of the stairs that Namine opened carefully and shut behind her. She turned and locked the five locks that adorned the inside of the warm mahogany wood. She let out the breath that she hadn't quite realized she'd been holding, letting out a tiny squeak of relief. Here was her sanctuary. She had food up here at all times, enough to get her through the worst of her horrible father's fits. That theory had been put to the test quite a lot recently. Namine went to her drawing room and slung her backpack down on the floor next to her desk. She grabbed the five-odd random drawings that she had done the night before and put them into the top-right drawer. That drawer alone had enough loose sketches to make it rather difficult to close. She would never open the top-left drawer.

She pulled out her history homework, avoiding her trigonometry out of principle. She looked over the worksheet she had and set about writing a long and boring essay on the many effects that Charlemagne had on European government structure. If luck was on her side, it would put her to sleep, and she would wake up long after the throwing-things-thing was done downstairs. Or maybe she just wanted to avoid her trig homework at all costs.

Namine grabbed a honey bun and physically _felt _her writing quality improve. Mmmm, _food_.

"Mr. Snuggles? Hey, where are you, Snuggles?" Namine looked around the room in distress, suddenly remembering about her favourite homework-buddy. Racing to her room, she dug in and around her discarded piles of crap for a good ten minutes before finding the object of her search. Mr. Snuggles the mouse sneezed and began to clean out his ears in her hands. Namine's eyes softened as she looked at him. Mr. Snuggles had never left her alone or hurt her or anything. Of course, that might've just been because she'd fed him once, and then again whenever he came back. So a mouse, an adorable little grey mouse lived in Namine's nice (if messy) white and blue room. She had given him a ridiculous name like Mr. Snuggles solely for the purpose of seeing if he would come back no matter how she spoke to him, or addressed him for that matter. Now, the name was the deepest term of endearment. Now, it meant, _one who will be my best friend until the rest of time_. Come to think of it, she had accidentally called Roxas 'Mr. Snuggles' once or twice. He hadn't found it funny, but everyone else had and had referred to him that way for the rest of the day. Both times. She smiled and chuckled.

A loud _slam_ practically shook the house erased the contented smile from Namine's face. Her head swung around as if there was something to see. He was home.

Namine scrambled to her feet, taking care not to hurt the little mouse that was in her hands still and looking around in obvious confusion. "Please, quiet," she whispered in fear to him. She darted to the safest place she knew of, as close to the window as she could be. That way, if Father ever managed to get in here, she could jump out the window and land on the trampoline in the backyard. If she was lucky, she might be able to get away and stay in the unsuspecting neighbour's yard, Gods willing. She held Mr. Snuggles close to her heart in fear. True to his name, the mouse nuzzled his sweet, furry head into her skin, pawing it softly.

The screams started. They were extremely muffled, but Namine knew what to listen for. She cried a little.

"Baby, baby… don't leave me here alone," she whispered to Mr. Snuggles. "Don't leave me with my father. Don't let me hear this, don't let me hear thiiiis…" She began rocking, her hands now clamped over her ears and the mouse sitting thoughtfully on her knee. The screams continued from downstairs. Suddenly, there was yelling. There were words, harsh ones that could never come from Namine's mother's mouth. There was something breaking, something that blocked out a word tat sounded suspiciously like Namine's name. He was coming upstairs – she could hear his ugly boots tramping up the steps as if trying to break them. The door shook in its hinges and many locks.

"FREAK!!! GET OUT HERE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!!!!"

Namine shook, trying to find a safe place to hide the mouse squeaking in her hands.

"NOOOOOW!!" The huge smashing and splintering sound echoed from the door. Namine scrambled over her own limbs and feet, heading for the window. Five locks didn't hold her father back forever, just hopefully enough to give her a head start.

The door swung open, hanging limply from one hinge and a badly injured second. The locks were completely ruined. Vaguely, Namine noticed that it had taken him a full minute less time to break down the door than he usually did. He had to be _really _pissed and equally drunk.

Namine panted and spun around, not quite catching whatever it was her better judgment had to say.

Her father looked nothing like Namine herself. That was actually where the problems had started. He had thought that her mother had been having an affair, the product of which being Namine.

"Little bitch. Whore, just like her. You run from me, like everybody else." Namine cried out as he grabbed hold of her hair and slammed her against the wall. Tears leaked out freely. Tiny begs for mercy came out as blubbering sounds that didn't really fit together. "Are you running now?" he asked, leaning in, glaring at her. The man dropped his daughter. To her credit, Namine's knees did not buckle. She remained standing. Her father didn't like that, not a bit.

"Cheeky, AIN'TCHA??" He slapped her as hard as he could, which sent her flying a good three feet across the room, unfortunately, away from the window and her salvation. Namine heard random and uneven tiny _thumps_ coming from the stairs beyond the ruined hallway door. Her mother was crawling up the stairs, attempting to stop him from causing any more harm. Fear blocked out everything else in Namine's head. Her limbs shook so badly she thought that it would be impossible to stand. Hell. That's what one called it. Hell.

Something squeaked behind her.

"What the hell? A fucking mouse? The HELL? What the FUCK is this doin' in MY HOUSE?!!"

Namine's heart snapped. "Mr. Snuggles!" she choked out. The name sounded ridiculous and pathetic now. Her father grabbed the little mouse as he attempted to make a rapid-fire break for any exit. Almost crushing the creature in his fist, the larger man threw him hard out of the mostly opened window. There was no way a mouse could survive that fall, even if there _was_ a trampoline below.

"No," Namine screamed quietly, her heart screeching in pain. Her spine was shaking itself apart. She could scarcely breath for the saliva that coated her tongue and throat whenever she cried heavily.

Hell, without a doubt, was this feeling. This place. This punishment. Everything. Namine didn't stand a chance in it. It was Hell, but a devil didn't cause it. Never had. Had only been caused by this pathetic human. Just a human. Just a human that kicked the crap out of his child and wife every day when he decided to come home drunk and annoyed, or on drugs and annoyed, or broke and annoyed. More often than not, his fits of rage involved all three. Fuck humans. All turned out to be bastards sooner or later. Hell. A human-made Hell. Wasn't it this guy's fault?

At that last thought, Namine's head jerked up from her knees. These thoughts had raced through her head at lightning pace. And yeah. Yeah, it _was_ his fault, wasn't it? Namine had always been in the right, hadn't she? Hadn't she done nothing to deserve any of this? Wasn't that why the secret item in her top-left drawer given to her for that very reason? The top-left drawer. That was it. That was her salvation.

Unfortunately, Namine had raised her head at exactly the wrong moment. The fist had connected with her face heavily, throwing her backward. Her right shoulder blade smacked the door to the open hallway. This door, at least, wasn't splintered and ruined. A singular bright side.

Namine, always being the type to recover from almost cartoonish levels of violence, launched herself toward her desk. She yanked open the top-left drawer and grabbed what she was looking for. It wasn't hard, seeing as it was the only thing in the drawer in the first place. Her father had already turned his body towards her, lifting his arm to hit her again. But then, he noticed what she had in her hand, which was rapidly withdrawing.

"You don't have the guts."

Namine's father was staring down the barrel of a gun.

_Hell. Isn't that what this is?_

Namine uttered three words calmly before pulling the trigger.

"Go to hell."

* * *

**Wow. I'm scared of Namine-chan now. But seriously, kudos to her. I can't believe I put her through this, but I did.**

**I'm also really sorry that I made people wait so long for such a short chapter. From now on, instead of about 25 pages, these chapters will be about 10. A big cut, I know, but it's so I can post sooner. Isn't that a good thing? Hell, I might have a new chapter up tomorrow. Heh, yeah right. The day after tomorrow, prolly.**

**Merry Christmas, one and all. Er, happy holidays? Eh, just be happy right now. That covers all religions, right?**

**Reviews are sometimes the best presents. You know it.**

**Poor Mr. Snuggles. Don't worry, he's okay.**


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